Free medical clinic serving local uninsured patients moves into Family Justice Center

The RotaCare Richmond Free Medical Clinic is now located at the new West County Family Justice Center at 256 24th St.

The free medical clinic — which is run by volunteer physicians and nurses who serve uninsured West County residents — had its grand opening celebration scheduled for last night. The clinic operates Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and two Saturdays per month from 9 a.m. to noon. Patients must make appointments by phone in advance.

Patients will be able to visit new medical exam rooms in the Family Justice Center facility that were made possible via financial support from nine Rotary Clubs and individual donors. Also, local architects, contractors, Rotarians and others contributed time and labor toward their construction.

The clinic will share space with multiple service and resource agencies in the Family Justice Center, many of which provide services for abuse victims and their families.

The Richmond clinic first opened in March 2013 and is one of 12 RotaCare clinics in the Bay Area. Since opening, the clinic has seen about 1,300 patients, mostly from Richmond and San Pablo, and handled more than 3,000 office visits.

About 75 percent of RotaCare Richmond’s patients are Hispanic. A large majority of patients live below the federal poverty line.

“Our mission is to help those with the greatest need and the least access to medical care,” Dr. Pate Thomson, a retired cardiologist who is one of the clinic’s co-founders and chair of its advisory council, said in a statement. “We are the safety net below the safety net.”

For more information about Rotacare, visit www.rotacarebayarea.org

The photo above shows Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia speaking at the grand opening event of the West County Family Justice Center in June 2015.